Road Safety

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many persons have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured on the A12 in Essex in each of the past five years; and what the corresponding figure is in 2006 to date.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table shows the number of people killed and seriously injured on A12 in Essex over the last five years. The Highways Agency does not currently hold full accident details for the first quarter of 2006.
	
		
			 Accidents A12 Essex 
			  Fatal Seriously injured 
			 2000 5 41 
			 2001 5 49 
			 2002 4 56 
			 2003 4 40 
			 2004 4 64 
			 2005 7 57 
			 2006 (1)1 — 
			 (1) To date.

EU Agriculture Budget

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the EU budget will be spent on agriculture in each of the years from 2007 to 2013; and if he will break down the spending between pillar 1 and pillar 2 spending in each year.

Edward Balls: In its information fiche, dated 11 April, the EU Commission gives an indicative breakdown of expenditure (2004 prices) for 2007 to 2013 in respect of agriculture, as follows:
	
		
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total 
			 Agriculture: direct aids and market support (Pillar 1) 
			 € billion 43.120 42.697 42.279 41.864 41.453 41.047 40.645 293.105 
			 Share of total EU budget (percentage) 35.7 35.1 34.5 34.0 33.4 32.7 32.0 33.9 
			  
			 Rural Development (Pillar 2) 
			 € billion 10.710 10.447 10.185 9.955 9.717 9.483 9.253 69.750 
			 Share of total EU budget (percentage) 8.9 8.6 8.3 8.1 7.8 7.6 7.3 8.1

Inheritance Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many written representations he has received since January protesting about inheritance tax; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the treatment of (a) accumulation and maintenance trusts and (b) interest in possession trusts for the purposes of inheritance tax;

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have received a number of written representations about the tax system, including inheritance tax and the lax treatment of trusts.

Avian Influenza

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place for the mass disposal of carcasses in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza; and what estimate the Government have made of (a) the number of birds which would need to be disposed of and (b) the maximum disposal capacity available.

Ben Bradshaw: The arrangements for mass disposal of carcases in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza are laid out in our Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan. Commercial fixed plant incineration or rendering will be the first options for mass disposal of carcases. If incineration and rendering capacity has been exhausted, it may be necessary to consider the use of approved commercial landfill or on-farm burial. Mass pyres will not be used. My Department has already put in place arrangements with animal incinerator and rendering companies to ensure the minimum delay should there be an outbreak of the disease.
	The disease control policies are set out in the Contingency Plan and it is our policy to cull birds only where this is justified and on the basis of sound veterinary, epidemiological and scientific advice. Any estimate of the number of birds which would need to be culled depends on these factors and the nature of this advice at the time. Key factors will include the virus strain, its pathogenicity, the location of the 'disease outbreak and international developments.
	The available incineration and rendering capacity at any time will depend on the location of the outbreak, the time of year, breakdowns and other demands. Some 2,500 tonnes per week (equivalent to approximately 1.25 million chickens) would be available very quickly and a further 10-15,000 tonnes per week could be brought on stream within about two weeks.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the staff in his Department is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade.

Barry Gardiner: The following table outlines the position in DEFRA at 1 April 2006:
	
		
			 DEFRA and Executive Agencies 
			 Percentage 
			  Male Female Disabled 
			 SCS 74 26 2 
			 Grade 6 71 29 5 
			 Grade 7 65 35 4 
			 SEO 64 36 4 
			 HEO 55 45 6 
			 EO 45 55 7 
			 AO 39 61 8 
			 AA 43 57 11 
			 Total 49 51 7

Equal Pay

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in (A)1997 and(B) 2006; what women's average pay is as a percentage of men's average pay; and how many (1) women and (2) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade.

Barry Gardiner: Defra was created on 9 June 2001 and the information given relates to the period since then.
	The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the Civil Service by Department. These include data on the employment of men and women. Information on the numbers of women and men employed in the Civil Service at31 December 2005 is available in the Library and on the Civil Service website at:
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/emplovment/index.asp
	The earliest readily available pay data split by gender since the creation of Defra is held in the 2003 Equal Pay Review, which covered staff below the Senior Civil Service in the core Department, the Pesticides Safety Directorate and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate Executive Agencies.
	(A) 2002-03 average pay:
	(i) Women £20,770
	(ii) Men £25,186
	Women's average pay as a percentage of men's average pay was 82.5 per cent.
	The review found that there were no significant pay gaps within the Department, provided that Defra's multi-year pay settlement was fully rolled out for future years up to and including 2005/2006. The final year of the settlement was rolled out last year and runs until the end of June 2006.
	(B) For 2006, the average pay for men and women on core-Department terms and conditions (core-Defra, PSD, VMD, SVS, MFA and GDS—the latter three Agencies were created since the 2003 Equal Pay Review and were previously included within the core-Department) was as follows:
	(i) Women £26,194
	(ii) Men £30,135
	Women's average pay as a percentage of men's average pay was 86.9 per cent.
	The average pay for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency was as follows:
	(A) 2001 average pay
	(i) Women £17,168
	(ii) Men £22,421
	Women's average pay as a percentage of men's average pay was 76.6 per cent.
	(B) 2005 average pay
	(i) Women £20,706
	(ii) Men £26,195
	Women's average pay as a percentage of men's average pay was 79.0 per cent.
	The average pay for the Senior Civil Service was as follows:
	2005 Average pay
	(i) Women £73,403
	(ii) Men £75,578
	Women's average pay as a percentage of men's average pay was 97.1 per cent.
	Data for other years could be obtained only by incurring disproportionate cost.
	Average pay figures for the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, the Central Science Laboratory and the Rural Payments Agency areeither unavailable or could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of women and men employed on a permanent basis in the Department and its Agencies on 1 April of each year since 2002 is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 1 April 2002 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff (headcount) All staff (full-time equivalent) 
			 Grade equivalent Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 SCS 124 29 153 2 4 6 125.7 32.1 157.8 
			 Grade 6 147 23 170 1 11 12 147.6 30.5 178.1 
			 Grade 7 493 136 629 5 26 31 497.0 155.8 652.8 
			 SEO 802 290 1,092 24 96 120 820.0 359.3 1,179.3 
			 HEO 1,013 608 1,621 12 149 161 1,021.8 713.0 1,734.8 
			 EO 1,461 1,301 2,762 21 245 266 1,475.1 1,487.5 2,962.6 
			 AO 1,618 2,141 3,759 33 420 453 1,644.2 2,451.8 4,096.0 
			 AA 596 745 1,341 26 209 235 613.3 874.6 1,487.9 
			 Unreported 10 5 15 1 0 1 10.9 5.0 15.9 
			 Total 6,264 5,278 11,542 125 1,160 1,285 6,355.6 6,109.6 12,465.2 
		
	
	
		
			 1 April 2003 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff (headcount) All staff (full-time equivalent) 
			 Grade equivalent Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 SCS 140 27 167 1 6 7 140.9 31.6 172.5 
			 Grade 6 158 23 181 2 10 12 159.5 31.2 190.7 
			 Grade 7 524 151 675 5 39 44 527.7 178.6 706.3 
			 SEO 798 287 1,085 29 99 128 820.6 355.4 1,176.0 
			 HEO 1,187 732 1,919 24 185 209 1,204.8 856.9 2,061.7 
			 EO 1,325 1,184 2,509 21 246 267 1,338.2 1,349.2 2,687.4 
			 AO 1,514 1,944 3,458 42 471 513 1,543.5 2,248.3 3,791.8 
			 AA 599 707 1,306 22 195 217 613.2 825.7 1,438.9 
			 Unreported 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Total 6,245 5,055 11,300 146 1,251 1,397 6,348.4 5,876.9 12,225.3 
		
	
	
		
			 1 April 2004 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff (headcount) All staff (full-time equivalent) 
			 Grade equivalent Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 SCS 146 36 182 2 7 9 147.6 40.9 188.5 
			 Grade 6 179 40 219 2 12 14 180.6 49.8 230.4 
			 Grade 7 544 183 727 10 43 53 551.1 214.5 765.6 
			 SEO 845 334 1,179 29 115 144 866.6 414.0 1,280.6 
			 HEO 1,242 805 2,047 30 213 243 1,264.3 951.0 2,215.3 
			 EO 1,403 1,282 2,685 32 282 314 1,424.8 1,470.5 2,895.3 
			 AO 1,628 2,032 3,660 60 549 609 1,668.8 2,384.9 4,053.7 
			 AA 486 557 1,043 26 214 240 503.4 685.4 1,188.8 
			 Unreported 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.0 0.0 1.0 
			 Total 6,474 5,269 11,743 191 1,435 1,626 6,608.2 6,211.0 12,819.2 
		
	
	
		
			 1 April 2005 
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff (headcount) All staff (full-time equivalent) 
			 Grade equivalent Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 SCS 155 45 200 3 7 10 157.0 49.5 206.5 
			 Grade 6 186 61 247 4 17 21 188.8 74.0 262.8 
			 Grade 7 564 234 798 10 50 60 571.4 270.9 842.3 
			 SEO 869 380 1,249 31 105 136 891.7 453.3 1,345.0 
			 HEO 1,257 893 2,150 30 188 218 1,279.1 1,018.2 2,297.3 
			 EO 1,279 1,279 2,558 25 287 312 1,296.4 1,468.1 2,764.5 
			 AO 1,363 1,831 3,194 50 531 581 1,399.3 2,169.4 3,568.7 
			 AA 373 368 741 22 195 217 387.5 484.5 872.0 
			 Unreported 41 17 58 0 0 0 41.0 17.0 58.0 
			 Total 6,087 5,108 11,195 175 1,380 1,555 6,212.2 6,004.9 12,217.1

Icelandic Fishing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was awarded as compensation for the loss of Icelandic fishing, broken down by port of origin of recipient; how many individuals received awards; how much was deducted from compensation payable for ex-gratia redundancy payments; and how many fishermen were subject to such deductions.

Ben Bradshaw: A total of £42.4 million has been paid by DTI in compensation to date. Although the scheme has long since closed, some limited processing of claims remains. The IT system used does not record the port of origin and it is not practical or cost effective to produce this information manually. Some limited information is however available on the basis of beneficiaries' current locations. This gives the following totals:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Hull 18.6 
			 Grimsby 6 
			 Cleethorpes 1.7 
			 Fleetwood 3.2 
		
	
	In all, 5,366 payments have been made thus far, with total deductions of £7.4 million in respect of ex-gratia redundancy payments to some 3,268 fishermen.

Nitrogen Dioxide Emissions

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the nitrogen dioxide emission statistics for (a) Marylebone Road, (b) Brompton Road and (c) Cromwell Road were in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: The following are annual nitrogen dioxide concentration statistics based on automatic air quality measurement data for London Marylebone and Cromwell roads over the period 2001-05. Data for Brompton Road has been provided by the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
	
		
			 Marylebone Road 
			 Statistic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
			 Annual average (micrograms per metre cubed) 84 80 107 110 112 
			 Number of exceedences of hourly EU limit value(1) 60 2 471 542 853 
		
	
	
		
			 Cromwell Road 
			 Statistic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
			 Annual average (micrograms per metre cubed). 76 72 75 80 79 
			 Number of exceedences of hourly EU limit value(1) 2 0 6 3 9 
		
	
	
		
			 Knightsbridge (LAQN) Brompton Road site 
			 Statistic 2001 2002 2003 2004 (2)2005 
			 Annual average (micrograms per metre cubed). 84 86 93 87 90 
			 Number of exceedences of hourly EU limit value(1) 97 154 235 254 288 
			 Data capture > 90 per cent. in each case(1) 200 micrograms per metre cubed hourly mean limit value not to be exceeded more than 18 times per year(2) 2005 Knightsbridge data is provisional 
		
	
	Data for London Marylebone and Cromwell roads are available from the National Air Quality Information Archive www.airquality.co.uk and data for Brompton Road are available from the London Air Quality Network website www.londonair.org.uk/london/asp/home.asp.

Perfluorooctane Sulphonate

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what agreements the Government has entered into with (a) EU and(b) other international organisations on the use of perfluorooctane sulphonate.

Ian Pearson: On 5 December 2005, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive (76/769/EC) relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOSs). While the UK welcomes the proposals we do not feel that they go far enough, and the UK is working to strengthen these proposals.
	We have reached agreement with member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the hazard profile of PFOS see www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/18/2382880.pdf
	We are also working to have PFOS agreed asa persistent organic pollutant and subject to international controls under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UNECE Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Rural Payments Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many telephone calls have been made to the Rural Payments Agency's Customer Service Centre in (a) each ofthe last 12 months and (b) the period commencing13 April 2006; how many calls in each period have gone unanswered; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The figures in the table show calls to the main RPA Customer Service Number 0845 603 7777 only. This line is the main customer telephone number for all subsidy and SPS related calls. RPA operate several other call lines.
	
		
			  Calls offered to 0845 603 7777 Number unanswered Percentage unanswered 
			 May 2005(1) 93,346 8,705 9.33 
			 June 2005(1) 24,496 267 1.09 
			 July 2005(1) 20,199 247 1.22 
			 August 2005 20,780 218 1.05 
			 September 2005 21,752 249 1.14 
			 October 2005 26,150 317 1.21 
			 November 2005 26,289 1,168 (2)4.44 
			 December 2005 18,725 187 1.00 
			 January 2006 26,628 185 0.69 
			 February 2006 28,322 175 0.62 
			 March 2006 52,748 450 0.85 
			 April 2006 68,684 281 0.41 
			 13 April to8 May 2008 89,218 338 0.38 
			 (1) May, June and July 2005 figures are an amalgamation of statistics collected from several call centre systems and represent our best estimate. (2) The November 2005 figure was the result of a high volume of calls and repeat calls on a day during an emergency evacuation of the call centre.

Rural Payments Agency

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had on deferring of the deadline for applications to the Rural Payments Agency for single farm payments.

Barry Gardiner: My hon. Friend the noble Lord Bach the then Minister for Sustainable Farming and Food has over the last two months met weekly with the Presidents of the National Farmers Union, the Country Landowners Association and the Tenant Farmers Association to discuss Single Payment Scheme (SPS) issues. An outcome of these discussions is that although farmers should continue to aim to meet the 15 May deadline for SPS applications, late claim penalties will not be applied to applications received between 15 and 31 May. Applications submitted between 1 and 9 June will attract the normal 1 per cent. per working day penalty and any applications submitted after 9 June will be rejected.

Single Farm Payments

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had concerning the position of those who are yet to receive their Single Farm Payments but are expected to submit their application forms for the following year by 15 May; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: My Noble Friend, Lord Bach, the former Parliamentary Under Secretary (Lords) had for the last two months met weekly with the Presidents of the National Farmers Union, the Country Landowners Association and the Tenant Farmers Association to discuss Single Payment Scheme (SPS) issues. An outcome of these discussions is that although farmers should continue to aim to meet the 15 May deadline for SPS applications, late claim penalties will not be applied to applications received between 15 and31 May. Applications submitted between 1 and 9 June will attract the normal 1 per cent. per working day penalty and any applications submitted after 9 June will be rejected.

Whaling

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to persuade those states within the International Whaling Commission sympathetic to Japan to vote in favour of whale conservation.

Ben Bradshaw: We regularly send lobbying instructions to our posts abroad to seek support from their host countries for the UK's position on whaling. The prominent role we play within the Commission ensures no country can be in any doubt as to the importance we attach to whale conservation.
	I have written to new members of the IWC refuting the spurious claims that whales have a detrimental effect on fish stocks?an argument often advanced by whaling countries in support of whaling operations. I personally raise the issue of whaling with my international counterparts at every appropriate opportunity. I have also written to fellow UK Ministers with international contact urging them and their officials to take such opportunities as arise to raise the issue of the conservation of cetaceans in appropriate bilateral meetings, or in the margins of meetings.
	The U K and its allies have lost no opportunity in trying to persuade new anti-whaling countries to join the IWC?with some success?five have joined in the last two years.

EU Extremely Large Telescope

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where the EU Extremely Large Telescope is expected to be located.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The main sites under considered as a possible location for the European Extremely Large Telescope are:
	Observatorio Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) La Palma, Canaries
	Paranal in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile
	Izafia—in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains
	Northwest Argentina—a number of sites
	'Dome C'—in the Australian Antarctica Territory
	A final decision is not expected to be made until 2008 at the earliest.

Job Sharing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage employers to provide job shares.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Minister for Women on 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 658W.

Mobile Telephony

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the land area of the UK is covered by third generation mobile telephony.

Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the Independent Regulator for the communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. Accordingly, my officials have asked the chief executive Officer of Ofcom to reply to the hon. Member and to send me a copy of his response. Copies of the chief executive's letter will also be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

London 2012 Olympics

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions have taken place between her Department and the British Olympic Association regarding the funding required to train athletes to Olympic standard for entry into every event at the 2012 Olympic games.

Richard Caborn: There have been no specific discussions between the Department and the British Olympic Association (BOA) on this issue, but the Department has discussed this with UK Sport. UK Sport is the Government's lead agency on elite sport and is responsible for funding high performance sport across the United Kingdom.
	Lord Moynihan, chairman BOA, did however, write to the Secretary of State in November 2005 commenting on UK Sport's submission, developed with the support of the BOA, for additional funding to support our Olympic sports and elite athletes to train and compete at the London 2012 games. In addition, the Secretary of State spoke with Lord Moynihan during the Winter Olympics in Turin.

School Sports

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how much money provided through the School Sports Policy has been allocated to each project;
	(2)  how much money was allocated to the School Sports Policy; and how much of that money has been allocated to sports projects.

Richard Caborn: Over £459 million has been invested by the Government to support the delivery of the National School Sport Strategy over the three years 2003-04 to 2005-06. The National School Sport Strategy comprises eight individual but interlinked workstrands. The table sets out details of money allocated to these workstrands:
	
		
			 Budget 2003-04 to 2005-06 
			 Workstrand £ million 
			 Specialist Sports Colleges programme 115 
			 School Sport Partnerships* 224* 
			 Professional Development programme* *This is 
			 Gifted and Talented programme* the Total 
			 QCA PE and School Sport Investigation* for these 
			 Swimming strategy* 5 workstrands 
			 Step into Sport programme 12 
			 Club Links programme 10 
			 Total 361 
		
	
	In addition to the money allocated to these eight workstrands, funding was also invested in work to enhance Community Club Development (£60 million between 2003-04 and 2005-06), Coaching (£28 million between 2003-04 and 2005-06) and the Sporting Playgrounds programme (£10 million between 2003-04 and 2004-05). All this work is supporting the National School Sport Strategy, and the delivery of the sports public service agreement target.

Army Exercises

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have (a) been killed and (b) seriously injured on exercise in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: While data relating to soldiers who have died or been seriously injured is recorded centrally, it is not possible within these figures to identify those soldiers who were on exercise at the time of the incident.

Defence Information Initiative

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact changes to the delivery plan for the Defence Information Initiative will have on the project's time scale and costs.

Tom Watson: The roll-out schedule for the Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (DII(F)) programme was first negotiated during 2004-05 and was re-worked during January 2006. The DII (F) contract was deliberately structured to allow for a level of change as it recognised that the impact of initiatives such as the efficiency review and the Ministry of Defence's own change programme would require a level of flexibility from the DII (F) Deliver Partner, ATLAS Consortium.
	MOD and ATLAS are currently discussing the impact of the revised rollout schedule. However, the changes introduced so far are not significant, and we expect that the rollout of the first increment of DII (F) will remain within its financial approval envelope. Both the DII project team and the ATLAS consortium are working hard to meet the originally forecast 'Last User Live' date and are confident that the predicted benefits will be achieved.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the staff in his Department is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade.

Tom Watson: The following table shows the total number of MOD civilian staff at 1 April 2006, and the proportion of this number who are male and female by pay band.
	The proportion of disabled staff at each pay band is based only on staff who have declared their disability status. Declaration of a disability is voluntary.
	Disability status is not available for Royal Fleet Auxiliary or locally engaged civilians. Gender of locally engaged civilians is also not available.
	
		
			 Headcount (1 April 2006) 
			 Responsibility level Staff headcount total Male (percentage) Female (percentage) Declared disability (percentage) 
			 SCS and equivalent 320 90 10 3.3 
			 Grade 6/7 2,790 81 19 3.8 
			 SEO/HEO 17,610 72 28 5.1 
			 EO 13,760 61 39 6.1 
			 AO/AA 28,340 43 57 5.5 
			 Industrial grades 14,810 80 20 6.7 
			 Unknown grade 170 51 49 0.9 
			 Trading Funds 10,870 80 20 4.0 
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary 2,340 96 4 n/a 
			 Locally Engaged Civilians 16,790 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Civilian Level 0 107,800 — — — 
		
	
	The Civilian Level 0 definition reflects all departmental employees including casuals and those not directly funded by the Department such as staff on loan to other government departments or NATO, and staff on career breaks or absent through long term sickness.

Equal Pay

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in(1) 1997 and (2) 2006; what women's average pay is asa percentage of men's average pay; and how many(A) women and (B) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade.

Tom Watson: The following table shows the numbers of permanent, non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff by gross salary band, gender and full-time/part-time status as at 1 April 2006, in both headcount and full-time equivalent terms. Comparable data by salary band for 1997 are not available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Gross pay for non-industrial permanent staff by gender and hours worked 
			 Non-industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff(2) Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Salary band(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2006  
			 £10,001-£15,000 4,020 5,600 9,620 100 1,180 1,280 4,090 6,360 10,450 
			 £15,001-£20,000 6,650 8,280 14,940 70 1,650 1,720 6,700 9,370 16,070 
			 £20,001-£25,000 6,810 3,890 10,700 60 640 700 6,860 4,320 11,180 
			 £25,001-£30,000 6,550 1,820 8,360 70 370 440 6,600 2,080 8,670 
			 £30,001-£35,000 5,470 920 6,390 40 140 180 5,500 1,020 6,520 
			 £35,001-£40,000 2,560 560 3,120 20 110 130 2,580 630 3,210 
			 £40,001-£45,000 1,060 190 1,260 30 90 120 1,080 260 1,340 
			 £45,001-£50,000 650 90 750 30 80 110 680 160 830 
			 £50,001-£55,000 370 40 410 20 20 40 380 60 440 
			 £55,001-£60,000 220 40 250 10 10 20 220 50 270 
			 £60,001-£65,000 230 40 260 10 10 20 240 40 280 
			 £65,001-£70,000 120 20 150 — 10 10 120 30 160 
			 £70,001-£75,000 60 20 80 10 10 10 60 20 80 
			 £75,001+ 130 20 140 10 10 10 130 20 150 
			 Not reported(3) 240 470 710 30 170 210 250 590 850 
			 Total 35,140 22,000 57,150 510 4,500 5,010 35,490 25,000 60,490 
			   
			 Lower quartile salary(4) 18,400 14,700 16,700 16,200 14,400 14,500 18,400 14,700 16,500 
			 Median salary(4) 25,000 18,200 21,900 25,900 17,800 17,900 25,000 18,200 21,400 
			 Upper quartile salary(4) 31,400 22,400 29,400 39,100 23,000 24,100 31,400 22,500 29,400 
			 — denotes numbers less than 5. (1) Part-time staff are assigned to the salary band corresponding to their full-time equivalent salary. (2) Salary in this table is gross salary. (3) The not reported category contains staff whose salary was not available on 1 April, cases where the data held on the system gave anomalous salary results (either very high or very low) and a number of staff who joined part way through the month leading to partial salary detail. (4) Salary figures are rounded to the nearest 100, and exclude the "Not reported" category. Notes: 1. Excludes casual, industrial, trading funds, Royal fleet auxiliary and locally engaged civilian staff. 2. All staff numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 
		
	
	The following table shows permanent staff employed by the Department broken down by responsibility level, full-time/part-time status and gender, in headcount and full-time equivalent terms, for the five years,1 April 2002 to 1 April 2006 inclusive.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of non-industrial permanent staff by gender and hours worked non-industrial and industrial staff 
			 Non-industrial and industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Responsibility level(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2006  
			 All non-industrial staff 35,140 22,000 57,150 510 4,500 5,010 35,490 25,000 60,490 
			   
			 SCS level 280 30 310 — — 10 280 30 310 
			 Grades 6/7 2,210 440 2,650 40 80 130 2,230 500 2,730 
			 SEO/HEO level 12,440 3,990 16,430 180 840 1,010 12,570 4,610 17,180 
			 EO level 8,340 4,520 12,860 90 750 840 8,400 5,040 13,440 
			 AO/AA level 11,790 12,940 24,730 200 2,820 3,020 11,920 14,750 26,660 
			 Unknown 80 80 160 — — — 80 80 160 
			   
			 All industrial staff 11,520 2,310 13,820 110 550 660 11,580 2,660 14,240 
			   
			 Casual staff 470 440 900 60 190 250 500 560 1,060 
			 Trading fund staff 8,530 1,820 10,350 150 360 520 8630 2060 10,700 
			 Royal fleet auxiliary 2,250 90 2,340 — — — 2250 90 2,340 
			 Locally engaged civilians n/a n/a 13,400 n/a n/a 3,390 n/a n/a 15,100 
			   
			 Civilian level 0 total   97,980   9,820   103,930 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-industrial and industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Responsibility level(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2005  
			 All non-industrial staff 36,910 24,020 60,930 410 4,030 4,440 37,180 26,670 63,850 
			 SCS level 270 30 300 — — — 270 30 300 
			 Grades 6/7 2,150 420 2,570 40 70 110 2,170 470 2,640 
			 SEO/HEO level 12,800 3,960 16,750 140 650 790 12,900 4,420 17,320 
			 EO level 9,080 4,850 13,930 60 640 710 9,120 5,290 14,410 
			 AO/AA level 12,180 14,580 26,750 150 2,650 2,800 12,270 16,260 28,540 
			 Unknown 440 190 630 — 20 20 450 200 640 
			 All industrial staff 11,820 2,480 14,300 110 550 660 11,890 2,830 14,710 
			   
			 Casual staff 480 500 970 40 190 230 500 620 1,120 
			 Trading fund staff 8790 1730 10,520 120 300 420 8860 1920 10,780 
			 Royal fleet auxiliary n/a n/a 2,350 n/a n/a — n/a n/a 2,350 
			 Locally engaged civilians n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 15,660 
			 Civilian level 0 total 108,470 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-industrial and industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Responsibility level(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2004  
			 All non-industrial staff 36,680 23,900 60,590 320 3,960 4,280 36,900 26,470 63,370 
			   
			 SCS level 270 20 290 — — — 270 30 290 
			 Grades 6/7 2,080 370 2,450 40 50 80 2,110 400 2,510 
			 SEO/HEO level 12,700 3,640 16,340 90 500 600 12,770 3,990 16,760 
			 EO level 9,210 4,760 13,970 60 610 670 9,250 5,170 14,420 
			 AO/AA level 12,370 15,090 27,460 130 2,790 2,920 12,460 16,870 29,330 
			 Unknown 50 20 70 — — — 50 20 70 
			   
			 All industrial staff 12,360 2,580 14,940 120 700 820 12,430 3,020 15,450 
			   
			 Casual staff 440 480 920 40 170 210 460 580 1,040 
			 Trading fund staff 9400 1790 11,190 110 280 390 9470 1970 11,440 
			 Royal fleet auxiliary n/a n/a 2,310 n/a n/a — n/a n/a 2,310 
			 Locally engaged civilians n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 15,430 
			   
			 Civilian level 0 total 109,050 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-industrial and industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Responsibility level(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2003  
			 All non-industrial staff 36,580 22,830 59,410 300 4,500 4,800 36,780 25,740 62,510 
			   
			 SCS level 270 20 290 — — — 270 20 290 
			 Grades 6/7 2,090 320 2,410 30 40 70 2,100 360 2,460 
			 SEO/HEO level 12,380 3,040 15,410 60 370 420 12,410 3,280 15,700 
			 EO level 9,240 4,350 13,590 60 670 730 9,280 4,800 14,080 
			 AO/AA level 12,240 14,570 26,810 160 3,240 3,390 12,340 16,640 28,980 
			 Unknown 360 530 890 — 170 180 360 640 1,000 
			   
			 All industrial staff 12,300 2,540 14,840 120 770 890 12,370 3,020 15,390 
			   
			 Casual staff 510 570 1,080 40 140 180 530 650 1,190 
			 Trading fund staff 10060 1860 11,930 100 320 430 10130 2070 12,200 
			 Royal fleet auxiliary n/a n/a 2,450 n/a n/a — n/a n/a 2,450 
			 Locally engaged civilians n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 13,840 
			   
			 Civilian level 0 total 107,580 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-industrial and industrial staff 
			  Headcount
			  Full-time staff Part-time staff Full-time equivalent(1) 
			 Responsibility level(2) Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 1 April 2002  
			 All non-industrial staff 36,560 22,760 59,310 270 4,270 4,540 36,730 25,480 62,210 
			   
			 SCS level 270 30 290 — — — 270 30 300 
			 Grades 6/7 2,050 280 2,330 20 40 70 2,060 300 2,370 
			 SEO/HEO level 12,270 2,850 15,120 50 320 370 12,300 3,070 15,360 
			 EO level 9,560 4,280 13,840 50 660 710 9,590 4,720 14,310 
			 AO/AA level 12,270 15,290 27,560 150 3,240 3,390 12,360 17,330 29,700 
			 Unknown 140 30 170 — 10 10 140 30 180 
			   
			 All industrial staff 14,080 2,810 16,890 120 800 920 14,150 3,300 17,450 
			   
			 Casual staff 600 790 1,390 50 230 270 620 910 1,540 
			 Trading fund staff 10180 2010 12,190 70 290 360 10220 2190 12,410 
			 Royal fleet auxiliary n/a n/a 2,370 n/a n/a — n/a n/a 2,370 
			 Locally engaged civilians n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 14,120 
			   
			 Civilian level 0 total 110,090 
			 — denotes numbers less than 5. (1) Part-time staff are recorded according to the proportion of full-time hours worked. (2) These tables show staff in their substantive responsibility level unless on temporary promotion in which case staff are recorded at the higher responsibility level. Note:  All staff numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Assembly Members

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance he has issued to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on the latest dates by which they are required to provide notice to their staff in the event of salaries and allowances for the Assembly being withdrawn on25 November 2006.

Peter Hain: As you will know, I have made clear that should Assembly Members be unable to elect a First Minister, Deputy First Minister and Executive by24 November, then MLAs' salaries and allowances would be cancelled immediately.
	MLAs' staff are, by definition, employed by MLAs themselves. It must therefore be for individual MLAs to decide, with professional advice should they deem it necessary, how best to proceed in terms of each contract of employment. I will remind MLAs of their responsibilities in this area during the summer.

Birth Rates

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the birth rate was in each district council in Northern Ireland in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005.

David Hanson: The table below gives birth rates by Local Government District of residence of mother for births registered in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
	
		
			 Table: Birth rates(1 , 2) per 1,000 females aged 15-44 years by Local Government District of residence of mother, 2004 and 2005 
			 Local Government District 2004 2005(3) 
			 Antrim 71.8 66.8 
			 Ards 57.4 59.2 
			 Armagh 61.9 68.5 
			 Ballymena 63.8 64.7 
			 Ballymoney 67.5 64.0 
			 Banbridge 62.7 69.5 
			 Belfast 54.7 52.5 
			 Carrickfergus 53.2 57.6 
			 Castlereagh 52.9 53.4 
			 Coleraine 57.3 50.2 
			 Cookstown 69.3 65.7 
			 Craigavon 66.6 67.9 
			 Derry 60.7 62.3 
			 Down 66.5 59.2 
			 Dungannon 75.6 73.3 
			 Fermanagh 57.7 61.2 
			 Larne 50.9 56.5 
			 Limavady 58.2 61.5 
			 Lisburn 60.9 60.9 
			 Magherafelt 66.3 69.1 
			 Moyle 61.2 59.7 
			 Newry and Mourne 72.3 71.9 
			 Newtownabbey 60.8 60.9 
			 North Down 56.2 55.1 
			 Omagh 60.4 63.5 
			 Strabane 59.6 61.6 
			 Northern Ireland 60.9 60.9 
			 (1) Birth is defined to be either still or live birth. Pregnancies which resulted in the birth of twins, triplets or other multiple births are counted twice, three times, etc.(2) Rate per 1,000 females aged 15-44. 2005 mid-year estimates are not yet published; the rate for 2005 is calculated using 2004 mid-year estimates of population.(3)Provisional Data

Causeway Hospital, Coleraine

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacancies there are for (a) full and (b) part-time nursing staff in Causeway Hospital, Coleraine.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			 Current nursing staff vacancies by employment status in Causeway Hospital, Coleraine as at 30 April 2006 
			  Full-time Part-time Total 
			  Headcount Headcount WTE(1) Headcount WTE(1) 
			 Qualified nurse vacancies 6 4 3.20 10 9.20 
			 Nurse support staff vacancies 0 2 1.20 2 1.20 
			 (1 )Whole-time equivalent. Source: Causeway Health and Social Services Trust

Criminal Justice Act

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to implement in Northern Ireland those provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 relating to non-jury trials; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Sections 43 to 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provide for trials on indictment to take place without a jury in cases of serious fraud and where there is a suspicion of jury tampering. The provisions extend to Northern Ireland on the face of the Act.
	I refer the hon. Lady to the announcement made by the noble Lord, the Attorney General on 14 March in another place, that the Government's intention is to proceed with these provisions by way of fresh legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
	At this stage it remains our intention to implement the Criminal Justice Act provisions relating to non-jury trials in line with the introduction of these measures in England and Wales.

Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been charged under the Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 in each year since its introduction; and what was the penalty imposed in each case.

David Cairns: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development only holds information from 1999 on the number of persons charged in respect of offences committed under the Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. This is detailed in the following table. Two of the cases were withdrawn at the last moment following the agreement of the owners to destroy the dogs in question. Of the two cases prosecuted, in the first case the penalty was a £100 fine plus £365 costs and the dog ordered to be destroyed.In the second case the penalty was a £250 fine plus£43 costs and the dog ordered to be destroyed.
	
		
			 Persons charged under the Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 
			  Number 
			 1999 0 
			 2000 0 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 1 
			 2004 1 
			 2005 0

Drink Driving

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) police officers and(b) police civilian support staff were convicted of drink driving offences in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Statistics for the number of police officers convicted of drink driving offences are provided in the table. The Police Service of Northern Ireland do not hold such records for civilian support staff.
	
		
			 Year Number of Police Officers 
			 2001-02 10 
			 2002-03 14 
			 2003-04 13 
			 2004-05 8 
			 2005-06 12 
			 Note:These statistics relate to police officers who were off duty at the time of the offence.

Education and Library Boards

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what honorariums have been paid to employees of each education and library board in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each year.

Maria Eagle: The following tables show the number and value of honoraria paid by each education and library board to teaching and non-teaching staff over the last five years
	
		
			 Honoraria paid to Teaching and Non-teaching Education and Library Board staff since 2001 
			 BELB 
			  Number paid (Teaching staff) Number paid (Non-teaching staff) Cost (Teaching staff)(£) Cost (Non-teaching staff) (£) Total cost (£) 
			 2001-02 92 3 42,459.35 1,621.58 44,080.93 
			 2002-03 49 4 25,003.28 3,156.89 28,160.17 
			 2003-04 59 33 32,283.00 14,347.68 46,630.68 
			 2004-05 51 5 29,450.00 3,529.33 32,979.33 
			 2005-06 55 4 32,300.00 25,491.63 57,791.63 
		
	
	
		
			 NEELB 
			  Number paid (Teaching staff) Number paid (Non-teaching staff) Cost (Teaching staff) (£) Cost (Non-teaching staff (£) Total cost (£) 
			 2001-02 60 6 29,525.00 3,075.00 32,600.00 
			 2002-03 68 4 30,124.45 8,040.00 38,164.45 
			 2003-04 101 9 54,636.65 3,370.00 58,006.65 
			 2004-05 131 47 74,395.63 28,225.00 102,620.63 
			 2005-06 104 38 45,170.80 19,105.00 64,275.80 
		
	
	
		
			 SELB 
			  Number paid (Teaching staff) Number paid (Non-teaching staff) Cost (Teaching staff) (£) Cost (Non-teaching staff) (£) Total cost(£) 
			 2001-02 1 24 440.00 36,853.28 37,293.28 
			 2002-03 17 28 1,078.54 13,806.86 14,885.40 
			 2003-04 22 62 5,212.28 39,586.25 44,798.53 
			 2004-05 0 30 0 23,074.09 23,074.09 
			 2005-06 14 67 10,500.00 54,496.99 64,996.99 
		
	
	
		
			 SEELB 
			  Number paid (Teaching staff) Number paid (Non-teaching staff) Cost (Teaching staff) (£) Cost (Non-teaching staff) (£) Total cost (£) 
			 2001-02 63 13 60,100.00 4,354.50 64,454.50 
			 2002-03 73 4 71,498.50 7,752.92 79,251.42 
			 2003-04 91 19 75,548.96 23,267.30 98,816.26 
			 2004-05 74 2 74,652.00 6,914.42 81,566.42 
			 2005-06 38 35 23,846.32 29,391.56 53,237.88 
		
	
	
		
			 WELB 
			  Number paid (Teaching staff) Number paid (Non-teaching staff) Cost (Teaching staff) (£) Cost (Non-teaching staff) (£) Total cost (£) 
			 2001-02 0 28 0 33,659.43 33,659.43 
			 2002-03 0 30 0 53,550.18 53,550.18 
			 2003-04 0 27 0 41,726.32 41,726.32 
			 2004-05 0 19 0 26,330.41 26,330.41 
			 2005-06 2 15 668.05 18,797.52 19,465.57

Farm Animals

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) pigs, (b) beef cattle, (c) hens, (d) sheep, (e) dairy cattle and (f) calves there were on Northern Ireland farms in March in each of the last four years.

David Cairns: Accurate information is not known for March. The results of a statistical survey of Northern Ireland agriculture conducted annually in June provide the best available estimate.
	
		
			 Number 
			 Livestock type 2002 2003 2004 2005 
			 Pigs 387,714 433,689 424,058 405,093 
			 Beef cattle 422,667 433,544 427,695 428,997 
			 Broilers (Thousand) 11,273 12,811 15,007 12,526 
			 Other hens (Thousand) 5,139 5,274 5,061 4,622 
			 Sheep 2,324,161 2,241,112 2,225,407 2,145,084 
			 Dairy cattle 297,935 290,145 288,296 290,530 
			 Calves 472,359 471,471 466,718 457,067 
			 Notes: 1. Pigs are defined as breeding and fattening pigs. 2. Beef cattle are defined as cattle over one year old, intended for slaughter.  3. Sheep are defined as breeding and fattening sheep. 4. Dairy cattle are defined as dairy cows and heifers in milk and dairy cows in calf but not in milk. 5. Calves are defined as cattle under one year old.

Farm Subsidies Appeal Panel

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times the Independent Farm Subsidies Appeal Panel set up by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has met in the past 12 months; how many decisions have been returned (a) partially and (b) completely in favour of the farmer; how many times the panel's decision has been overturned by DARD; and what the cost of the panel to DARD has been over the last 12 months.

Maria Eagle: For ease of reference the figures requested have been presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			 Number of times panel has met in the last 12 months (1)89 
			 Recommendations returned by panel (2)153 
			 Partially upheld by panel 13 
			 Upheld in full by panel 60 
			 Times panel recommendation overturned by DARD 0 
			 (1) Includes 10 occasions where the panel reconvened. Panel to reconvene to complete review of two cases. (2) Includes 16 cases still under policy consideration. 
		
	
	It should be noted, the Farm Subsidies Appeal Panel do not make decisions. Their remit is to review subsidy-related decisions against the relevant European and UK legislation and to consider whether the Department's decision is consistent with these rules. The panel is asked to reach a conclusion and make a recommendation to the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development. The Department does not reject the recommendations made by the Independent Panel. The final decision as to whether the panel's recommendation is rejected or accepted rests with the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development.
	The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development did not accept 29 recommendations made by the panel (of these seven were accepted in part).
	During the past 12 months, the Independent Panel's cost to the Department was £257,465. This includes panel fees, travel and subsistence and administrative support/secretariat costs.

Library Fines

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fines were imposed for the non-return of borrowed books by each library in Northern Ireland in 2005.

Maria Eagle: The following numbers of fines were imposed for the non-return of borrowed stock items (mainly books, but also other items such as DVDs or music) in each Northern Ireland library branch in the financial year 2005-06:
	
		
			 BELB 
			  Number 
			 Andersonstown 1,095 
			 Ardoyne 798 
			 Ballygomartin 34 
			 Ballyhackamore 2,362 
			 Ballymacarrett 420 
			 Belfast Central 9,753 
			 Chichester 2,580 
			 Falls Road 1,311 
			 Finaghy 1,974 
			 Holywood Arches 1,942 
			 Ligoniel 442 
			 Lisburn Road 2,907 
			 Oldpark 165 
			 Ormeau 4,331 
			 Sandy Row 269 
			 Shankill 851 
			 Skegoneill 905 
			 Suffolk 1,687 
			 Whiterock 874 
			 Whitewell 109 
			 Woodstock 1,969 
			 Other 175 
		
	
	
		
			 NEELB 
			  Number 
			 Antrim 1,295 
			 Ahoghill 89 
			 Ballee 27 
			 Ballycastle 1,309 
			 Ballyclare 2,001 
			 Ballymena Central 6,027 
			 Ballymena Local Studies 0 
			 Ballymoney 2,203 
			 Bellaghy 73 
			 Broughshane 636 
			 Bushmills 128 
			 Carnlough 488 
			 Carrickfergus 3,039 
			 Castlerock 75 
			 Cloughfern 694 
			 Cloughmills 69 
			 Coleraine 3,039 
			 Crumlin 926 
			 Cullybackey 103 
			 Cushendall 814 
			 Draperstown 743 
			 Garvagh 470 
			 Glengormley 3,287 
			 Greenisland 674 
			 Greystone 1,091 
			 Kells and Connor 441 
			 Kilrea 512 
			 Larne 2,865 
			 Maghera 1,531 
			 Magherafelt 2,575 
			 Monkstown 155 
			 Portglenone 877 
			 Portrush 1,072 
			 Portstewart 1,212 
			 Randalstown 1,194 
			 Rathcoole 938 
			 Templepatrick 91 
			 Whitehead 1,089 
			 Other 1,424 
		
	
	
		
			 SEELB 
			  Number 
			 Ballynahinch 1,290 
			 Bangor 5,265 
			 Belvoir Park 448 
			 Braniel 412 
			 Carryduff 797 
			 Castlewellan 696 
			 Colin Glen 2,883 
			 Comber 2,123 
			 Cregagh 1,511 
			 Donaghadee 1,273 
			 Downpatrick 4,078 
			 Dundonald 1,499 
			 Dunmurry 533 
			 Gilnahirk 492 
			 Holywood 2,284 
			 Killyleagh 573 
			 Laurelhill 612 
			 Lisburn 4,192 
			 Moira 1,034 
			 Newcastle 3,753 
			 Newtownards 3,629 
			 Newtownbreda 2,109 
			 Portaferry 1,088 
			 Saintfield 949 
			 Tullycarnet 1,234 
			 Other 469 
		
	
	
		
			 SELB 
			  Number 
			 Armagh 3,948 
			 Banbridge 2,531 
			 Bessbrook 525 
			 Brownlow 1,365 
			 Coalisland 1,365 
			 Cookstown 3,241 
			 Crossmaglen 704 
			 Dromore 580 
			 Dungannon 4,065 
			 Fivemiletown 555 
			 Gilford 301 
			 Irish and Local Studies 39 
			 Keady 890 
			 Kilkeel 2,117 
			 Lurgan 3,899 
			 Moneymore 204 
			 Moy 355 
			 Newry 5,585 
			 Portadown 3,546 
			 Rathfriland 603 
			 Richhill 710 
			 Tandragee 807 
			 Waringstown 264 
			 Warrenpoint 2,144 
			 Other 1,447 
		
	
	
		
			 WELB 
			  Number 
			 Castlederg 674 
			 Creggan 895 
			 Dungiven 768 
			 Enniskillen 2,839 
			 Fintona 252 
			 Irvinestown 1,037 
			 Limavady 1,779 
			 Lisnaskea 974 
			 Londonderry Central 6,024 
			 Newtownstewart 366 
			 Omagh 5,580 
			 Shantallow 1,670 
			 Strabane 2,655 
			 Strathfoyle 274 
			 Waterside 2,615 
			 Other 474 
			 Note:'Other' fines mainly imposed by mobile libraries, but also include a range of other library outlets.

Live Birth Statistics

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the numbers of live births in (a) Coleraine and (b) Limavady was between 1995 and 2005.

David Hanson: The following table gives the number of live births registered in Northern Ireland in 1995 and 2005, where the mother was resident in Coleraine or Limavady local government districts.
	
		
			 Local government district 1995 2005(1) Change 1995-2005 
			 Coleraine 754 589 -165 
			 Limavady 498 452 -46 
			 (1 )Provisional data.

Live Birth Statistics

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the numbers of live births in each district council area in Northern Ireland was between 1975 and 2005.

David Hanson: The following table gives the number of live births registered in Northern Ireland in 1975 and 2005 by Local Government District of residence of mother.
	
		
			 Number of Live Births(1) Registered in Northern Ireland by Local Government District of Residence of Mother, 1975 and 2005 
			 Local Government District 1975 (2)2005 Change 1995-2005 
			 Antrim 877 703 -174 
			 Ards 954 891 -63 
			 Armagh 847 806 -41 
			 Ballymena 948 793 -155 
			 Ballymoney 351 376 25 
			 Banbridge(3) 363 651 288 
			 Belfast 4,891 3,291 -1,600 
			 Carrickfergus 421 479 58 
			 Castlereagh 695 723 28 
			 Coleraine 730 589 -141 
			 Cookstown 504 476 -28 
			 Craigavon 1,352 1,195 -157 
			 Derry 1,958 1,528 -430 
			 Down 922 799 -123 
			 Dungannon 924 761 -163 
			 Fermanagh 894 732 -162 
			 Larne 441 350 -91 
			 Limavady 570 452 -118 
			 Lisburn 1,331 1,467 136 
			 Magherafelt 565 614 49 
			 Moyle 270 193 -77 
			 Newry and Mourne(3) 1,503 1,403 -100 
			 Newtownabbey 1,246 1,049 -197 
			 North Down 931 822 -109 
			 Omagh 903 682 -221 
			 Strabane 739 503 -236 
			 Northern Ireland 26,130 22,328 -3,802 
			 (1 )Live birth figures for 1975 include births for Northern Ireland to non-resident mothers. These births have been assigned to Local Government District where the birth took place. (2) Provisional data. (3) Rathfriland ward was moved from Newry and Mourne Local Government District to Banbridge Local Government District between 1992 and 1993. There were 31 births in 2005 to mothers resident in Rathfriland ward. The numbers of births in 2005 in the Banbridge and Newry and Mourne LCD areas as they existed in 1975 are estimated as 620 and 1,434 respectively.

Primary School Teachers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the change in the numbers of fully qualified primary school teachers has been in (a) the controlled sector and (b) the maintained sector in Northern Ireland in each year between 1995 and 2005;
	(2)  what the change in the numbers of fully qualified primary school teachers in (a) the controlled sector and (b) the maintained sector in Northern Ireland was in each year between 1995 and 2005.

Maria Eagle: The change in the numbers of fully qualified primary school teachers in (a) the controlled sector, and (b) the maintained sector in Northern Ireland in each year between 1995 and 2005 is detailed as follows:
	
		
			  School management type Differences from previous year 
			  Controlled Maintained Controlled Maintained 
			 1995 4,301 4,332 — — 
			 1996 4,258 4,315 -43 -17 
			 1997 4,211 4,276 -47 -39 
			 1998 4,116 4,132 -95 -144 
			 1999 4,040 4,063 -76 -69 
			 2000 4,051 3,986 +11 -77 
			 2001 3,994 3,946 -57 -40 
			 2002 4,050 3,910 +56 -36 
			 2003 4,055 3,900 +5 -10 
			 2004 4,038 3,842 -17 -58 
			 2005 3,949 3,734 -89 -108 
			 Note: Teacher numbers are taken as at October of each of the years in question.

Racial Abuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints of racial abuse have been (a) investigated and (b) upheld in (i) each Department in Northern Ireland and (ii) his Department in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The information requested is set out in the tables.
	It shows the number of formal internal complaints made by staff in the 11 Northern Ireland Departments, the NIO and their respective agencies.
	
		
			  2005 2004 
			 Department Investigated Upheld Investigated Upheld 
			 DARD 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DCAL 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DE 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DETI 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DFP 1 0 0 n/a 
			 DEL 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DHSSPS 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DOE 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DRD 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DSD 1 1 0 n/a 
			 OFMDFM 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 NIO 0 n/a 0 n/a 
		
	
	
		
			  2003 2002 2001 
			 Department Investi- gated Upheld Investi- gated Upheld Investi- gated Upheld 
			 DARD 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DCAL 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DE 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DETI 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DFP 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DEL 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DHSSPS 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DOE 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DRD 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 DSD 1 0 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 OFMDFM 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a 
			 NIO 0 n/a 0 n/a 0 n/a

Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what basis water rates will be calculated from April 2007.

David Cairns: The information is as follows:
	Domestic water charges
	From April 2007 unmeasured household charges for water and sewerage will be introduced. Both charges will consist of a standing charge (estimated at around £55) and a variable element based on the capital value of each property as determined by the Valuation and Lands Agency (VLA) for the purposes of domestic rating. The Government intend to set the new household charges during the three-year period to 2009-10 to achieve the average level of charges that will apply in England and Wales in 2009-10. There will also be a low-income protection scheme. The Government's broad objective is to ensure that low-income households should not need to spend more than 3 per cent. of their income on water and sewerage charges. To achieve this a new affordability tariff will be available for those households which are eligible. This tariff will be based on income and will be set at a level equivalent to 3 per cent. of the single person's pension credit guarantee as updated by Parliament each year. Additional protection in the form of lower caps will be set for those with properties valued at less than £100,000.
	As many as 200,000 households (30 per cent. of all households) in Northern Ireland who presently qualify for rate rebate, housing benefit or the new Northern Ireland Rate Relief Scheme should benefit from this scheme. The affordability tariff will also extend to all 16 to 17-year-old householders and to children leaving care up to the age of 21.
	The new charges will be phased in over a three-year period, with households paying one-third of the full charge in 2007-08, two-thirds in 2008-09 and the full amount in 2009-10. The changes to the non-domestic regime will be introduced on the same basis.
	Also from April 2007, meters will be available to pensioner households who apply. Meters will also be installed in all new properties and first time connections. Where meters are installed, both water and sewerage charges (where appropriate) will consist of a standing charge and a variable element based on consumption as registered on the water meter. Those households receiving a meter bill will pay a standing charge similar to that of unmeasured householders.
	This approach to metering will be subject to a review after two years when the extension of the metering option to further groups will be considered.
	Non-domestic water charges
	Metered customers
	Charges will continue to be made up of a standing charge (currently around £50) and a volumetric charge based on the volume of water consumed. All metered customers connected to the public sewer will receive a new sewerage bill of around the same magnitude as their new water bill (except in the case of trade effluent customers).
	Un-measured customers
	Water Service is undertaking a programme of extending metering more widely throughout the non-domestic sector. However for those non-domestic customers who remain on an unmeasured supply, water and sewerage charges will both be made up of a standing charge (at a similar level to unmeasured domestic standing charges) plus a variable element based on the rateable value of the premises.
	Trade Effluent Charges
	Trade effluent charges will be extended to all businesses which discharge trade effluent. The calculation of these charges will continue to be on the basis of the Mogden formula and will be brought fully into line with practice in GB.

Schools

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average amount of funding received by (a) integrated schools and (b) other schools in Northern Ireland has been for each of the last 10 years.

Maria Eagle: The following table sets out details of the funding for integrated and other schools in Northern Ireland for the last 10 years. It shows average recurrent funding per school in each year and includes amounts made available under Local Management of Schools Formulae (allocated largely on a per pupil basis) and funds held by Boards and the Department which are distributed to schools in the course of the year to meet teacher substitution and other costs funded centrally by funding authorities. The figures exclude funding for special schools and centrally held resources, such as home-to-school transport, school meals and central administration, which are not attributable to individual schools.
	
		
			 Integrated schools (controlled and grant maintained) 
			  Number of schools Total funding (£) Average spend (£) 
			 1995-96 23 11,997,360 521,624 
			 1996-97 31 16,772,193 541,038 
			 1997-98 35 21,289,217 608,263 
			 1998-99 40 29,302,465 732,562 
			 1999-2000 43 36,451,764 847,715 
			 2000-01 44 41,834,154 950,776 
			 2001-02 45 46,430,575 1,031,791 
			 2002-03 47 51,151,827 1,088,337 
			 2003-04 50 57,661,816 1,153,236 
			 2004-05 55 61,656,777 1,121,032 
		
	
	
		
			 All other grant-aided schools 
			  Number of schools Total funding (£) Average spend (£) 
			 1995-96 1,229 687,672,925 559,539 
			 1996-97 1,222 711,873,610 582,548 
			 1997-98 1,218 727,160,684 597,012 
			 1998-99 1,216 752,664,097 618,967 
			 1999-2000 1,205 795,973,358 660,559 
			 2000-01 1,204 868,617,464 721,443 
			 2001-02 1,200 947,572,220 789,644 
			 2002-03 1,188 977,568,557 822,869 
			 2003-04 1,187 1,031,412,262 868,924 
			 2004-05 1,178 1,043,009,132 885,407

Skin Cancer

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the number of diagnoses of skin cancer has been in Northern Ireland in each of the last ten years.

Paul Goggins: The following tables detail the number of incidences of Malignant Melanoma of the skin (ICD-10 C43), Non-melanoma skin cancer (ICD-10 C44) and all skin cancers (ICD-10 C43-C44) in Northern Ireland between 1994 and 2003.
	
		
			 Malignant Melanoma of the skin (ICD-10 C43) 
			  Year of diagnosis 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
			 Incident cases 178 169 175 159 177 179 187 215 245 208 
			 Change  -9 +6 -16 +18 +2 +8 +28 +30 -37 
		
	
	
		
			 Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (ICD-10 C44) 
			  Year of diagnosis 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
			 Incident cases 2,093 2,054 2,234 2,196 2,174 2,261 2,213 2,157 2,377 2,414 
			 Change  -39 +180 -38 -22 +87 -48 -56 +220 +37 
		
	
	
		
			 All Skin Cancers (ICD-10 C43 and C44) 
			  Year of diagnosis 
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
			 Incident cases 2,271 2,223 2,409 2,355 2,351 2,440 2,400 2,372 2,622 2,622 
			 Change  -48 +186 -54 -4 +89 -40 -28 +250 0 
		
	
	This information has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and is the most up to date currently available.

Teachers Pay and Pensions Unit

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed in the Teachers Pay and Pensions Unit; and what the implications are for the Unit of the Review of Public Administration.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Education's Teachers Pay and Pensions Branch employs 124 people. The effect that the Review of Public Administration (RPA) will have on this Branch has yet to be determined. The RPA Consultation document of March 2006 proposed that, generally, DE should no longer undertake the direct delivery of services and made explicit mention of the Department's teachers pay and pensions functions as a part of DE likely to be affected by this proposal. Following on from this, and as announced by my the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith) in her statement of 22 November 2005, the Department has conducted an Internal Review to establish which of the functions currently performed within the Department would transfer to the Education and Skills Authority, to be established under the RPA in 2008. This review covers all of the Department's current functions. The Review is still going on. The implications of the RPA for DE staff, including Teachers Pay and Pensions Branch, will be made clear when it reports.

Belarus

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representationsshe has made to her Belarussian counterpart on the arrest and imprisonment of opposition leaderMr. Milinkevich; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: Based on the 1997 General Affairs Council Conclusions, the EU suspended ministerial and high-level contacts with Belarus, while offering dialogue and assistance if Belarus addressed reform. Neither my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) or my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Europe (Mr. Alexander), have therefore made representations direct to their respective counterparts. However, my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Europe made the following statement on Friday 28 April on behalf of the Government:
	"I wholeheartedly condemn this action against people who were trying to exercise legitimate rights of freedom of assembly and expression. Once again the Belarusian authorities have demonstrated their lack of tolerance, respect for their people, and adherence to democratic standards.
	In line with the statements of the EU Presidency and colleagues in EU member states, I call on the Belarusian authorities to release immediately Mr Milinkevich, those imprisoned with him and all other political detainees imprisoned following the flawed presidential election on 19 March".

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people in her Department have been (a) disciplined and(b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate numbers in each of the last five years.

Margaret Beckett: Breaches of IT policy (inappropriate Internet use and misuse of IT systems) have been monitored periodically since April 2003. This table shows the number of staff who have been disciplined in line with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Misconduct Procedure. A copy of the procedure is in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  Number of staff 
			  disciplined dismissed 
			 2003 72 1 
			 2004 36 0 
			 2005 58 0 
			 2006 (to date) 0 0 
		
	
	No staff have been disciplined or dismissed for misuse of premium rate numbers. Staff are told about the FCO's policy on use of emails and the internet when they join the FCO and are reminded about the policy at regular intervals through office notices circulated to all staff (most recently in June 2005).

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the staff in her Department is (a) male, (b) female and (c) disabled, broken down by grade.

Margaret Beckett: The information requested, for Foreign and Commonwealth Office UK based civil servants, as of 1 April 2006 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			 Responsibility level Male Female Declared disabled 
			 SCS level 83.6 16.4 1.6 
			 Grade 6/7 69.4 30.6 2.4 
			 SEO/HEO 66.6 33.4 2.4 
			 EO 48.0 52.0 2.9 
			 AO/AA 43.5 56.5 5.1

FCO Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) administrative and (b) financial changes were required to make FCO Services an executive agency, with particular reference to (i) use of consultants in the process as part of this change and (ii) increases in pay grades of key personnel.

Margaret Beckett: My right. hon. Friend, the then Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 20 March 2006 Official Report, columns 5-6WS, announcing that Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Services would become an Executive Agency (EA) of the FCO on 1 April 2006. FCO Services' move to EA status is aimed at achieving best value for money both for the FCO and ultimately for the taxpayer.
	In order to take forward the administrative and financial changes which were necessary, a project team of FCO and FCO Services staff was set up, supported by a small team of three professional consultants.
	The administrative changes have been set out in the Framework Document, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House and I will send a copy to the hon. Member. The financial changes have involved strengthening the FCO Services' Finance team and modifying the FCO's financial management system to enable a proper separation of the Agency's accounts. There have been no increases to the pay grades of key personnel.

Tibet

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she plans to take to raise the human rights of the Tibetan people with the Government of China.

Ian McCartney: The Government regularly raises human rights in Tibet with the Chinese Government, including through the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, ministerial contacts and EU mechanisms. My hon. Friend, the then Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Ian Pearson) raised human rights in Tibet with Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on 7 April. Tibetan individual cases of concern will be raised with the Chinese Government at the next rounds of the UK- and EU-China Human Rights Dialogues later this year. We will continue to raise human rights in Tibet at every appropriate opportunity.

Visas

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what the average time was that an applicant for a visa to the UK waited for a reply at (a) Amman, Jordan and (b) other UK embassies in the Middle East in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many visas to the UK have been issued in Amman, Jordan (a) within (i) 24 hours and (ii) seven days of application and (b) more than seven days after application in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: UKvisas does not hold statistics on average time scale for reply to visa applications. Visa sections such as that in Amman operate to public service agreement (PSA) targets, which indicate the length of time within which a visa section should aim to resolve an application (issue, refuse, defer or refer for further information). We do not hold these statistics for only those applications which led to a visa being issued. Statistics are compiled and are made publicly available on the UKvisas website to illustrate the performance of individual visa sections against these targets. They may be found at www.ukvisas.gov.uk—'Entry Clearance: facts and figures'.
	The Visa Section in Amman has met all of these targets in the last five years.
	The targets since April 2005 are as follows:
	PSA 1—90 per cent. of straightforward non-settlement visa applications to be processed and available for return to the applicant within 24 hours from the date of receipt by a visa section of the application and all supporting documents including the fee.
	PSA 2—90 per cent. of non-settlement applications requiring further inquiries or interview to be decided within 15 working days from the date of receipt by a visa section of the application and all supporting documents including the fee.
	PSA 3—90 per cent. of applicants for settlement visas to be interviewed within target times. For all visa sections in the Middle East this is 12 weeks.
	We are currently processing statistics for 2005-06 and expect to publish them in June.
	At our embassies and consulates in the Middle East, all visa sections met their targets in the last period for which figures are available (financial year April 2004 to March 2005) except for those in Damascus, Jerusalem and Riyadh where some, but not all of the targets, were achieved.
	Prior to April 2005, PSA targets were measured as follows:
	PSA Tier 1 and 2—90 per cent. of straightforward non-settlement applications to be resolved within 24 hours.
	PSA Tier 3—Average waiting time for first interview should be not more than 10 working days.
	PSA Tier 4—Average waiting time for settlement interview should not be more than three months.
	Statistics for our embassies and consulates in the Middle East for 2004-05 are as follows:
	
		
			PSA targets (financial year 2004-05) 
			  Total applications received Total visas issued PSA Tier 1 and 2 (percentage) PSA Tier 3 (average wait in days) PSA 3 (average wait in months) 
			 Amman 17,435 13,717 (1)106.4 0 0.0 
			 Beirut 9,762 8,932 98.1 0 0.0 
			 Damascus 6,629 1,091 49.4 12 2.5 
			 Jerusalem 1,959 1,689 89.5 0.5 0.5 
			 Tel Aviv 2,857 2,688 94.7 0 0.0 
			 Abu Dhabi 22,231 20,008 100 1 0.1 
			 Bahrain 11,156 10,722 95.3 10 0.5 
			 Doha 11,892 11,625 99.5 1 0.1 
			 Dubai 37,252 35,234 93.8 0 0.0 
			 Jeddah 19,250 18,179 99.8 2 0.2 
			 Kuwait 42,730 40,932 99.8 10 0.5 
			 Muscat 10,296 9,729 94.9 4 0.1 
			 Riyadh 28,261 27,086 85.0 2 0.2 
			 Sana'a (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Tehran 36,974 27,977 90.5 0 0.8 
			 (1 )This apparent statistical anomaly is most likely to be a result of applications being carried forward from one year to the next) (2) Statistics unavailable 
		
	
	The statistics for Amman for the previous three years are as follows:
	
		
			PSA targets (prior to 2005-06) 
			  Total applications received Total visas issued PSA Tiers 1 and 2 (percentage) PSA Tier 3 (average waiting time in days) PSA Tier 4 (Average waiting time in months) 
			 2000(1) 10,114 8,452 91 0.25 1 
			 2001-02 10,227 8,475 90 0.37 0.5 
			 2002-03 10,899 9,793 100 6 0.9 
			 2003-04 13,096 12,284 100 10.5 0.7 
			 (1) Prior to 2001-02, statistics were published by calendar year

Card Durability Survey

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer to Question No. 19869, if he will publish the results of the card durability survey.

Joan Ryan: The results of the Smartcard Durability Study is available on the Identity and Passport Service website: http://www.identitycards.gov.uk/working-suppliers-publications.asp.

Police

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with members of the Norfolk constabulary and the Norfolk police authority regarding the possible creation of strategic forces in the Eastern region.

Liam Byrne: Following the former Home Secretary's (Charles Clarke) letter dated 22 September 2005 inviting forces and authorities to develop options for changes Norfolk police force and authority;
	(i) In early November 2005 the Home Secretary provided feedback to the initial short list of options developed by the force and authority.
	(ii) The Home Secretary met with Norfolk constabulary's chief and chair on 20 March to discuss the findings of assessments undertaken on its Business Case submitted in December 2005.
	Norfolk police authority wrote to the Home Secretary on 11 April 2006 requesting voluntary merger with Suffolk and Cambridgeshire police forces.

Police

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that the Norfolk Constabulary undertakes consultation with members of the public in Norfolk in relation to proposals to merge the constabulary with other police forces; and whether he has made additional funding available to the constabulary for this purpose.

Liam Byrne: When inviting forces and authorities to develop options for change in September 2005, the former Home Secretary (Charles Clarke) requested that they consult and engage all relevant local stakeholders, including local communities, within existing budgets.

School Fires

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the risk to life posed by fires in schools.

Jim Knight: Of paramount concern is the safety of pupils, teachers and other users of schools, and regulations are in place to ensure the risk to life posed by school fires is low. Regulation 17 of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 requires that every part of a school building, and of the land provided for a school, shall be such that the safe escape of the occupants in case of fire is reasonably assured. Schools are also covered by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and by subsequent related regulations. These include aspects of fire safety.
	Since April 2001, all new building work in schools has been subject to approval under the Building Regulations. If a building is designed in accordance with the guidance in Approved Document B (Fire Safety), which accompanies Part B of the Building Regulations, a satisfactory standard of life safety will be achieved.

Magistrates

Rudi Vis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates have been disciplined for discriminatory sentencing in the lastten years.

Harriet Harman: No magistrates have been disciplined for their sentencing decisions in the past 10 years. Like other judicial office holders, magistrates are independent and their decisions as such can only be challenged through the courts, not through a disciplinary process. If a higher court considering an appeal from magistrates was concerned that a sentencing decision appeared to have been reached on an improper basis involving misconduct, whether because of discrimination or for other reasons, it would be possible for the court concerned to refer the conduct of the magistrates, as opposed to their decision, to the Office for Judicial Complaints to be considered on behalf of the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice. Similarly, if in the
	course of a case magistrates make discriminatory comments or otherwise behave in a way which suggests that they are acting improperly, it is possible for a complaint about their conduct to be made to the Office for Judicial Complaints.
	The Office for Judicial Complaints was created on3 April 2006. Previously complaints about magistrates' conduct were made to the Lord Chancellor. During 2005, 89 complaints were referred to him, of which he upheld 63.

Action Teams

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many departmental staffare employed in Action Teams in (a) the UK,(b) Scotland and (c) in each Action Team area; and how they will be redeployed when Action Team activity ends in September.

Anne McGuire: There are 472.19 full-time equivalent (FTE) departmental staff undertaking work for or in connection with Action Teams in the UK, of which 45.5 are in Scotland.
	The Action Team programme is due to finish in September and Jobcentre Plus district managers are working with human resource teams to plan the re-deployment of staff currently engaged in Action Team activity. This is within the wider context of work force planning across Jobcentre Plus districts. Trade union side have been engaged in these discussions.
	Information on the number of FTE staff employed in each Action Team area is in the table.
	
		
			 Department for Work and Pensions staff employed in each Action Team area 
			 Region District Number 
			 London Central London 16.9 
			  City and East London 10.88 
			  Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth 9 
			  North and North East London 9.83 
			  South and South East London 32.15 
			
			 North East South Tyne, Sunderland and Durham 49.68 
			  Northumbria and Gateshead 6.79 
			  Tees Valley 25.54 
			
			 North West Cumbria 7.68 
			  Lancashire 12.76 
			  Greater Manchester Central 66.26 
			  Greater Mersey 48.37 
			  Liverpool and Wirral 10.22 
			
			 Scotland Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway 7.5 
			  Forth Valley Fife and Tayside 9.47 
			  Highland, Islands, Clyde Coast and Grampian 11.79 
			  Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire 16.29 
			
			 South East Kent 10.83 
			
			 South West Devon and Cornwall 9.36 
			
			 Wales Bridgend and Eastern Valleys 22.73 
			  South East Wales Cardiff and Vale 8.33 
			  Swansea and West Wales 25.54 
			
			 West Midlands Black Country 14.46 
			
			 Yorkshire and Humberside South Yorkshire 18.16 
			  North and East Yorkshire 11.67 
			 Total UK  472.19 
			
			 Total Scotland  45.05 
			 Notes:1. Data excludes management and administrative activity as confirmed data is not available, however, the assumption is that an additional 13 per cent. FTE staff are engaged in this capacity.2. Data is clerically collected and is provided through the Jobcentre Plus Activity Based Information system.3. Data is calculated on full-time equivalent staff and not on individuals.Source:Jobcentre Plus Human Resources Directorate.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected funding requirements are of the Financial Assistance Scheme in (a) 2007 to 2010 and (b) 2010 to 2013.

James Purnell: It will not be possible to provide firm estimates until we have assessed the eligibility of each scheme and its members. Our current estimates in current cash terms, based on data provided by a number of schemes in late 2004, are shown in the following table. The estimates will change in the light of improved information. Over the longer term we estimate expenditure to be broadly in line with£20 million over 20 years.
	
		
			 Pay 80 per cent. to those within three years of Scheme Pension Age 
			  £ million, cash 
			 2007-08 15 
			 2008-09 25 
			 2009-10 30 
			 2010-11 30 
			 2011-12 25 
			 2012-13 25

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in his Department staying overnight in(i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland,(iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in each of the last three years.

Peter Hain: The costs of the Wales Office for overnight accommodation is as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Great Britain and Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Overseas 
			 2004-05
			 Special advisers 1,353.85 0 1,037.14 
			 Civil servants 2,740.59 0 2,074.28 
			 
			 2005-06
			 Special advisers 999.90 0 0 
			 Civil servants 5,175.38 0 0 
		
	
	Expenditure records kept do not differentiate between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so are given as one sum. Expenditure records kept prior to 2004 did not separate any accommodation costs and this could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Fire Service

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firemen were killed while on duty in (a) England,(b) the North East and (c) the Tees Valley in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The following table shows the number of firefighters killed while attending a fire in each year since 1997 in (a) England, (b) North East, (c) Tees Valley.
	
		
			 Firefighters killed while attending a fire, 1997 to 2005 
			  England North East Tees Valley 
			 1997 — — — 
			 1998 — — — 
			 1999 — — — 
			 2000 — — — 
			 2001 — — — 
			 2002 1 — — 
			 2003 — — — 
			 2004 2 — — 
			 2005 2 — — 
			 Source:Fire and Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.

Life Expectancy (Women)

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impactof (a) diet and (b) alcohol consumption on life expectancy for women.

Caroline Flint: Female life expectancy increased from 79.8 years in 1997 to 80.9 years in 2003. We have not made a separate assessment on the impact of diet or alcohol on the life expectancy of women.
	It is widely recognised that eating a healthy balanced diet can contribute to a number of positive health outcomes, and eating at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day could lead to an estimated reduction of up to 20 per cent. in overall deaths from chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.
	We know that alcohol misuse is associated with between 15,000 and 22,000 deaths each year. In 2001 the number of women dying from illnesses directly attributable to alcohol was 2,170 compared with 3,800 male death. The Government published the alcohol harm reduction strategy in March 2004 in order to address alcohol related harm.

IT Reviews

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the functions to be delivered by the National Programme for IT; and what the (a) start date, (b) planned completion date, (c) current expected completion date, (d) planned cost and(e) current estimated cost is for each function.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 9 May 2006
	The national programme was established with four original core components—the NHS care records service (NHS CRS); the electronic booking service, now knownas choose and book; electronic transmission of prescriptions, now known as the electronic prescription service (EPS); and the new national network (N3). Delivery now also includes the following additional components: picture archiving and communications systems (PACS); the NHSmail e-mail service; and the quality management and analysis system (QMAS). The objective of the programme is to transform health care in England by the provision of pervasive digital information.
	There is no single national start or completion date for individual national programme systems and services. The aim is to achieve substantial integration of health and social care information systems in England under the national programme by 2010. Clearly, systems will need to be upgraded in the light of new technology and new national health service requirements beyond that date. The approach, in line with best practice, is to implement new services incrementally, avoiding a big bang approach, and by providing increasingly richer functionality over time.
	The first elements of the NHS care records service, to provide a transaction messaging service, a personal demograhics service, a spine directory service and secure access controls via smartcards, went live on time and to budget on 2 July 2004. The software to support choose and book is complete and went live on time and to budget, also on 2 July 2004. The software to introduce QMAS in support of the general medical services contract went live on time and to budget in August 2004 and was fully rolled out within three months, supporting payments to 100 per cent. of general practitioners (GPs) under the quality outcomes framework every month since then. The software to allow electronic prescriptions to be issued went live on time and to budget in February 2005. N3 is ahead of schedule and over 96 per cent. of GPs now have a broadband connection.
	The first PACS system under the programme was implemented in April 2005 and 31 systems have been implemented to date with over 25 million digital images stored. In the south of England, the infrastructure is complete and over 50 per cent. of hospitals have PACS systems. NHSmail was implemented on time in October 2004 and currently has over 170,000 registered users sending 500,000 e-mails per day and 70 million to date. The establishment of an accredited software integration environment is complete and has enabled existing system suppliers of GP, hospital, pharmacy and independent sector systems to gain compliance with the new national and local applications.
	The values of centrally-funded contracts let for the original core components of the programme are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 NHS CRS (including Spine and EPS) 620 
			 Choose and book 64.5 
			 N3 530 
		
	
	Contract values, and actual/current anticipated expenditure for the additional components are:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 PACS 850 
			 NHSmail(1) Between 50 and 90(2) 
			 QMAS(3) 4.4 
			 (1) The NHSmail contract value is variable because it is a voluntary service to offer secure, encrypted e-mail with a lifelong e-mail address. The lower amount is based on a reasonable expectation of moderate take-up and is in line with current predictions. The higher figure is the maximum possible take-up by all NHS staff with access to a computer. (2 )Depending on take-up. (3) QMAS was negotiated as an additional service under the NHS CRS contract. The figure quoted is for the initial version of the application software. Additional releases of the software have been and will continue to be commissioned to reflect further changes in the general medical services contract. 
		
	
	For the avoidance of doubt, none of the relevant budgets managed by the Department's NHS Connecting for Health agency have been exceeded. Anticipated expenditure under these contracts remains at planned levels.

North West London Strategic Health Authority

Piara S Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the net change in the numbers of (a) doctors and (b) nurses in the North West London Strategic Health Authority area has been since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The table shows the latest figures available for all national health service doctors and qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff including practice nurses employed in the North West London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area as at 30 September each year from 1997 to 2005. This includes the change in numbers between 1997and 2005.
	
		
			 All NHS doctors and qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff including practice nurses employed in the North West London Strategic Health Authority area as at 30 September (1) each year 
			 headcount 
			  1997 2005 Change 1997-2005 Percentage change 1997-2005 
			 All doctors(2) 4,422 5,625 1,203 27.2 
			 Qualified nurses including practice nurses 12,602 16,708 4,106 32.6 
			 (1 )Practice nurse figures are as at 1 October for 1997 where 1997 data is estimated based on 2002 organisational structure.(2) Excludes hospital medical hospital practitioners and hospital medical clinical assistants, most of whom are general practitioners (GPs) working part time in hospitals and General Medical Practitioners retainers and registrars.Sources:The Information Centre for health and social care, non-medical workforce censusThe Information Centre for health and social care, general and personal medical services statisticsThe Information Centre for health and social care, medical and dental workforce statistics

Obesity

Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of children in England are (a) overweight and (b) obese; what the targets are in relation to childhood obesity; and what assessment she has made of the progress made to date in achieving those targets.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Overweight and obesity prevalence among children aged 2 to 15 by sex in England in 2004 
			 Percentage 
			  Boys Girls 
			 Overweight 13.9 16.6 
			 Obese 19.2 18.5 
			 Overweight, including obese 33.0 35.1 
			 Bases (weighted) 8833 8228 
			 Source:Health Survey for England, 2004 
		
	
	In July 2004, a public service agreement (PSA) target was set to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. Progress of the PSA on childhood obesity will be monitored through the Health Survey for England.

Sexual Health Services

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to reduce barriers to access to sexual health services with particular reference to young people.

Caroline Flint: The Government recognise the disproportionate effect of poor sexual health on young people, and this was highlighted in both the national strategy for sexual health and HIV and the teenage pregnancy strategy, and subsequently highlighted in the 'Choosing Health' White Paper.
	Improving access to sexual health has been identified as a top priority for the national health service in the 'NHS in England: the Operating Framework for 2006-07' and all primary care trusts are now working towards providing access to genito-urinary medicine appointments within 48 hours. A national programme of screening for chlamydia, targeting 16 to 24-year-olds, will be rolled-out across the country by April 2007. A range of projects are also underway to inform the development of new models of service provision. These include HIV testing in community settings and one-stop shop services.
	The teenage pregnancy strategy encourages all young people to delay sex, but also seeks to ensure that they have access to contraceptive and sexual health advice if they are, or are thinking about becoming sexually active—to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Efforts to improve access to services focus on making sexual health services more young people-friendly and delivering them in non- traditional settings, such as schools, colleges and Connexions one-stop-shops.